WIDENING THE SCOPE: TOWARD A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Ecological processes mediated by species interactions such as pollination and predation are a key component of biodiversity with profound ecological and practical implications. However, they are surprisingly ignored in conservation actions and management strategies. In this talk, I will expose the need to going beyond traditional approaches in biodiversity conservation by taking a functional perspective that integrates ecosystem processes as conservation arguments.

José M. Herrera is postdoctoral researcher working at CIBIOInBIO/UE. He is particularly interested in conservation planning for maintaining biodiversity (including both species and ecosystem processes) in world-real landscapes in the face of global environmental change. To date, his research lines focus on biological effects of global change drivers such as habitat loss and fragmentation and climate warming. Overall, he try to establish (1) the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, (2) investigate networks of species interactions functioning in human-modified landscapes and (3) determine patterns of species distribution along stress gradients.

[Group Leader: Pedro Beja, Applied Population and Community Ecology]

Image credits: José M. Herrera